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BOSTON — Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens has been the Green Team's de facto general manager for over four years now. However, time and experience haven't simplified the personal side of the trade process for him.
This summer, he's already made tough phone calls to veteran guard Jrue Holiday and center Kristaps Porzingis to deliver the news that the Celtics were trading them.
“It's never easy,” Stevens told ClutchPoints during a Tuesday morning presser. “They're still hard phone calls to make. It's harder to think about not seeing Jrue and KP in and around the facility every day. That's the hardest part.”
But just because those calls were difficult doesn't mean they were unexpected. Before the Celtics dealt Porzingis and Holiday, Stevens explained to them that they might not be back in Beantown next season.
“Well, Porzingis was asleep [when I called him], and by the time he woke up, I was asleep, but he knew he was probably gonna get traded, so I think he was okay by then,” Stevens recalled. “I actually talked to both those guys a couple weeks before, and just said, like, ‘Listen, there's a chance that you're back, but there's also a high chance that you're not.'”
Porzingis and Holiday arrived in Boston in 2023 and helped the C's capture their 18th title in franchise history less than a year later. Although Stevens and the rest of the front office would've preferred to retain them, that simply wasn't realistic under the new CBA.
Why did Brad Stevens trade Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis?
Prior to Boston's two trades, the Celtics were deep into the second apron, putting them at risk of facing severe financial penalties and restrictions. Moving Porzingis and Holiday gives Stevens a lot more wiggle room, and he wasn't shy about admitting that.
“I mean, the second apron is why those trades happened,” he said honestly. “I think that those were pretty obvious. And the basketball penalties associated with those are real.”
Brad Stevens didn’t shy away from why the Celtics traded Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis:
“The second apron is why.” pic.twitter.com/LXe7RdFD4X
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) July 8, 2025
In return for shipping out two members of the 2024 championship core, the Celtics received former Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons, Massachusetts native Georges Niang, a 2031 second-round pick, and cash considerations. That yield helped soften the blow of the trades for Stevens, yet he couldn't pretend that they didn't lose anything.
“[Jrue] is as good of a person as you could ever have in your building and as part of your team,” Stevens praised. “And KP, he fought some stuff, health-wise, in the last two years, but when he played, he was awfully good…Those are not easy trades to make. Those are not easy phone calls.
“Obviously, those guys have been around the league a long time. They knew the CBA. They knew that it was a high likelihood that they could be part of the move, and they were communicated that before, but it's still hard when you are.”
Celtics expect to be competitive in 2025-26
Even without Porzingis and Holiday, Stevens was optimistic about the Celtics' ability to put together a competitive 2025-26 campaign. Boston's roster still has a few significant question marks though, as star Jayson Tatum is recovering from a ruptured Achilles and veteran big man Al Horford seems destined to leave the C's this offseason.
Brad Stevens said returning Al Horford is “unlikely”: pic.twitter.com/D0gdGJd94w
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) July 8, 2025
That leaves the Celtics with an undermanned squad, particularly at the five spot. The only true centers they have at the moment are Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, and rookie Amari Williams — all guys who lack serious NBA experience.
“So we'll have to do that by committee,” Stevens responded when asked about the center dilemma. “That will not be the group that people will single out, based on paper, on what they've done with their careers thus far, as our strongest position, but it's up to them to prove it otherwise.”
Whether or not Boston trades for more help or mostly sticks with what it has remains to be seen, but either way, its upcoming season is full of uncertainty. That unpredictability and uneasiness doesn't change the fact that Stevens is certainly grateful for everything Porzingis and Holiday accomplished on and off the court while representing the Celtics.
“I think I could go into great detail on each of them, but…Jrue being here for two years, KP being here for two years, obviously, had a huge impact, not only on our team, but on the city and the community and everything else,” Stevens emphasized. “We will miss them, and we're thankful for them.”
